


Refugees In Wakanda

by doesnotloveyou



Series: Regenerate [3]
Category: Black Panther (2018), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Drug Use, Explicit Language, Gen, OC is not the main character, Post-Black Panther (2018), Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Regenerate Non-Compliant, Wakanda (Marvel), slightly more humor andfluff than yall may be used to from me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-02 23:04:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17272826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doesnotloveyou/pseuds/doesnotloveyou
Summary: When T'Challa offers his help to Steve, he intends to see it through. Harboring the damaged Sergeant Barnes is of no consequence, however there's another party the two allies have in common. If she too can find peace, there may be less loose ends to tie when Tony Stark's worst nightmares come to the fore.Bucky Barnes and a female OC become friends in Wakanda as they recover from their own separate traumas.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [monten](https://archiveofourown.org/users/monten/gifts), [Orion_Overdrive](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orion_Overdrive/gifts), [charlotteailleurs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/charlotteailleurs/gifts).



> I was dared by multiple Tumblr users to post all my fanfic on AO3. This is the first thing I unleash on the interwebs per their relentless request. Pro-Tip!: Never ask the internet to dare you to do something.
> 
> For readers of main-storyline 'Regenerate,' consider everything that happens before Ch. 88 (i.e. before she smoothes things with Tony) to be canon in this fic. Chapter one was previously posted as a non-canon one-shot in 'Regenerate: Intermission,' but it evolved into its own thing one night so what can I tell you.
> 
> LASTLY, if you don't know Ace, she's a mutant of multiple abilities and has lived a very long time. She was an Avenger until Tragedy™ struck, and now she does her own thing away from them. I figured she'd get along nicely with Bucky given the chance.

            It’s nearly sunset in Wakanda, the horizon climbing up to the sky rather than the sun sinking down. Would be a breathtaking first visit here if I didn’t have my ex-boss very not happy with me. And very presently expressing it.

            “Where did the materials you stole end up, Ace?” Steve hasn’t turned _bright_ red yet, so.

            I listen to his thoughts to determine just which materials he’s talking about. “Don’t worry, they’ve been handled.”

            “By whom?”

            “Tony,” I wave my sleeve above my head, “and that Queens kid.”

            “You’ve met him.”

            “He’s alright.” Now, onto the important issues. “The bruises I saw on you were intense. Tony must’ve wanted you dead to do that much damage.”

            A scene without dialogue, without context, replays in Steve’s mind. There’s a television screen and Tony in his full suit standing by watching- a car has been in an accident. Steam rises from the hood and a man crawls out of the driver’s side. Steve’s throat tightens as he watches.

            My insides twist and I take a step back, mouth opening for no reason.

            “I blamed him,” I stammer.

            Steve says nothing. What is there to say? I don’t want his defenses and I know he’ll never give them anyway. Steve doesn’t defend his decisions he just makes them. I used to admire that; I wanted to admire that.

            “Tony is—he pretends not to be—ruled by his emotions. He- he makes mistakes and doesn’t admit to them until far too late, _but you_.” I raise my voice. “You’re the goddamned logical one; the adult. I expected more from you.”

            Lashes lowered, jaw set in remorse or perhaps only impatience; he’s feeling both but my own emotions are infecting my judgment.

            “I can’t go back to him,” I repeat, clasping my hands. “You have no idea, how much he’s done for me. But I threw that away, largely due to my own issues at the time, but also because I thought you were right. He was out of line, it had all finally gone to his head.”

            I’m having my own personal earthquake, teeth chattering, limbs trembling, legs quaking. It’s the drugs, my nervous system hates it when I take them standing up—or ever since they’re the product of my own careless experimentation. Steve thinks grief is doing this to me so he gets to his feet, but one ugly look stalls him.

             I leave him like that, stopping in the doorway just to look back at his bulky, hunched figure. “You could at least show remorse. You could cry.”

            When he does nothing more than crease his mouth and recognize me with pained eyes, I exit the building.

            He follows me into the drill yard. “Wait.”

            “Get away from me.” I’ve got a joint wrapped and lit ready to be milked for mindlessness. “I wouldn’t hit Tony, but I’ll hit you.”

            “You didn’t let me speak—”

            “Let you.” I seek higher ground and climb the three blocky steps at the back of the yard. “Steve Rogers lets himself, how very American.”

            “I apologized, of course, beyond that there’s nothing I can do for him now. I don’t expect an apology to be enough.”

            “Just, stop,” suck the joint until my mouth is numb to the flavor, “talking.”

            Exhaled smoke wallows between us muffling further discourse. They’re still watching us from the observation deck, have been this whole time, saw me seizing and screaming or whatever the hell I was doing back there. Saw that Steve acted rationally and exceedingly stoic. I really could punch him for making me look like the crazy one.

            “Ace,” the unfeeling boulder finally speaks, “don’t let this stop us from being—”

            “No. I’m done. You all can deal with your problems on your own, I’m done making alliances.”

            He does not protest, but you can see his tongue move in his mouth with words he wants to say; _We can’t do this without you, People will die without you, We need you._

            Again, we stand in each other’s presence without saying anything. I smoke, he does whatever old boys do. I respected this asshole. I’m not convinced I don’t right now.

            “I wouldn’t have told him either,” I say. “Barnes isn’t even my friend, and I wouldn’t tell him. How does one unbury someone’s parents and kill them again?”

            Steve licks his upper lip and I believe the edges of his eyes sharpen with tears, but that could just be the lighting.

            “Once you confirm it, you execute his belief in that accident and make the event vulgarly unjust. You killed his parents simply by telling, and _not_ telling drives the knife deeper when finally he knows.”

            I sound like Charles fucking Xavier. Pot makes me sound like a philosophical nutcase who can’t remember what she just did and said fifteen seconds ago. I hate this stuff, why do I use it? Surely philosophical me has a good answer.

            Tossing the joint, I descend the steps and walk right past Steve, pausing only to realize he’s said something. When he doesn’t repeat it, I keep walking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expect 3rd POV from here on out. This first chapter introduces you to Ace and is basically an homage to 'Regenerate,' which is primarily told in 1st POV. We're diverging from Ace's POV in this story to include others, so 3rd POV it is.


	2. Chapter 2

            The young woman disappeared just as mysteriously as she arrived, and it unnerved T’Challa to see it in action. “That did not look very diplomatic.”

            “Believe it or not she took that well.” Steve’s still thinking about her threats to hit him.

            “I don’t believe it.”

            Steve smiles. “She thinks we abandoned her. She relies on family and we were it. I expected that response. Our last interaction wasn’t ideal either.”

            T’Challa muses. “But she is a necessary alliance?”

            “She just needs time.”

            “You may not have time. You need to draw her back.”

            Steve sets his jaw in grim agreement. “She’s loyal to Stark; he’s done more for her than anyone. Now that she knows, she’ll go back to him.”

            “Captain,” T’Challa glances at the floor, pinching his lip thoughtfully, “she has already worked against the interests of peace in stealing from SHIELD.”

            “That’s different,” Steve shakes his head stoutly, “that was personal, they double-crossed her. I’m not condoning it, but it’s an isolated incident.”

            “It is rebellion,” T’Challa checks him. “She feels abandoned so she lashes out, and from your description she’s a very dangerous enemy to have. If family is what she values, show her a family.”

            “She has one.” Steve looks him in the eye. “Or she’ll find one. There’s no one here she cares about as much as she cares about Tony, and Barton’s deep cover. Her only other strong tie was Banner. Unless she reconnects with Tony, she’s rudderless.”

            Okoye clears her throat at her post a few paces to their right. T’Challa understands. “She is not rudderless. She has found a direction. We have been watching her since she freed one of our spies from captivity in Botswana.”

            Steve turns his full attention on him.

            “She has been on this continent before,” the king affirms. “Frequently, and leaving bodies behind.”

            “On her own?”

            “Occasionally. She holds much hidden power in the north, operating in ways we cannot easily trace back to her. Her hatred of SHIELD is clear because she let them see her. Others have not received that privilege.”

            Steve feels…betrayed. And ashamed. He’d never been Ace’s choice of confidante, but after all that had happened in her life and all that he and others had done to help…He was still responsible for her somehow, even more so without Tony to tether her.

            T’Challa lets his fellow leader overcome whatever shock this must be to him, understanding how it feels to have a trusted friend rip the rug out from under you. Or maybe Ace is more like his cousin, an usurper, a vicious threat with personal vengeance on the mind. He awaits Steve’s opinion of her to help him proceed.

            Unfortunately, Steve says, “There’s too much we don’t know about her. She was always open with me about her past; life as a diplomat, life as a soldier. What you describe,” he grimaces mildly, “she’s entirely capable of it, but…she has loyalties. She has a good heart.”

            There’s a nearly indiscernible sigh. Okoye’s heard enough. She likes this Rogers, he’s a good man, not stupid for certain, but perhaps too loyal. T’Challa already knows all this, they discussed it at length before his and Ace’s arrivals. Another violent foreigner with a record of destruction? One with severed ties to their newest allies?

            “Could it be that peace and a good friend will help her?” he asks Steve. “She regularly operates alone, sometimes unceasingly until her goals are met. If all her friends are scattered, she must feel very alone.”

            The subtext is being spelled out for him, but Steve shakes his head. “You’ve already taken on a big project with Bucky. I can’t ask you to work with her as well, especially if she’s acting out in ways I didn’t know about.”

            T’Challa waves this off with both hands, an old gesture of his father’s that he catches himself doing from time to time. “It is in our benefit too, Rogers. She protects our people and makes trouble for smugglers and warlords. If it helps you to help her, then it helps Wakanda too. Diplomat or soldier, vigilante or Avenger, we know who she is when she’s out of your sight. Don’t worry on our behalf.”

           This is not a conversation Steve ever remembers having with another human before. The closest he can come to would be Tony’s easy-going reassurances, his “you need that? I’ll have it here in an hour.” Funny, that always reminded him of the Commandos, willing to agree, but more willing to follow through efficiently. Loyalty was a powerful thing.

           “She never liked life at either headquarters and spent a lot of time outdoors.” Steve nods at the jungle in the distance. “If she comes here, she won’t stay in the city.”

           “Hmm.” T’Challa too observes the wilderness beyond the capitol. “We can find her someplace that suits her.”

           Steve bears a crooked grin as he watches a flying vessel depart from the city. “Clint’s advice was ‘feed her and make her feel at home.’” Based on their reception at Barton’s home, however, he assumed that advice actually came from Laura.

           T’Challa smiles slightly and looks sideways at him. “What is her favorite dish?”


End file.
